Projects in theme: Development, Institutions And Demographic Change

This project, focusing on China, studies the societal impacts of urban highway and rail infrastructure investments, the biggest (non-defense) public sector investment a country makes. By assembling data on key instrumental variables and policy contexts, Henderson estimates how these choices affect: 1) city population, employment, and GDP growth; 2) urban form, including the spread of developed land by use; 3) environmental outcomes; and 4) urban land-use patterns across residential, commercial, mixed and industrial categories.

Co-directors with studentsAt the heart of this project on tuberculosis treatment in India is the simple and practical question of whether community volunteers can be used instead of professional monitors to ensure drug-therapy compliance; but the investigators use this idea in order to explore broader social science questions, including the extent to which caste membership creates effective generalized (as opposed to specific) reciprocity among its members.